Not a state of mind I voluntarily share with others. But, let's meet reality head-on: we're immersed in total, abject, un-yielding dysfunction, confusion and irrationalism at just about all levels of society right now. Look around. What's the vision? What's the strategy? Who's in control? Who makes the decisions? Is there any hope for consensus or at least short-term compromise?

The future near and far is completely uncertain.

So, why shouldn't that be the case for our Redskins?

We just don't know.

What's the right offensive scheme? Who's in charge, Robert or Mike? What is the way-ahead? Did we even have a strategy or plan before the season began? If so, did it get caught up in media theatre or was there simply serious under-assessment of readiness and over-assessment of capabilities following a phenomenal seven game run? Did the draft make sense? Should we have looked a bit closer at the Honey Badger? He's looking pretty good from a distance! Will the league continue to put the cross-hairs on us? Is the coaching staff gonna be here by season's end? Will the dang team name even stay the same?

What a friggin mess! We don't have stability. We don't have a mission: we slipped from moving further forward in the playoffs to hoping we finish with a record one loss fewer than the rest of the pathetic NFCE. What kind of strategy is that? "Any given Sunday" is now "any given losing team"? We certainly don't have a winning team. To date, against good competition, we don't even have a competitive team.

It's not fun watching this group. It feels like the clean break achieved last season was simply an aberration.

We're back to long-run trend post 1992?

Nope. Not yet anyway. We have some resources to work with. Not enough, however. We are still in that un-easy state of transition. This is grin and bear it time. Again. Only with knowledge that, yea, just one more season, one more draft, one more full free agency, one more year of development for Robert in the pocket, perhaps one more defensive coaching change, we will regain the forward momentum. We aren't the Spurrier/Zorn Skins. I dunno who the capital H we are at present, but going back to the past aint part of the equation. A slim thread, I do know that. But what else can a fan do at this point? So, I guess the mindset is to look for progress, see how the components can one day be orchestrated into a team that can tackle, block, pass, catch and run as a team, as drawn on the chalkboard. Last season proved it can be done. The culture and experience are in place. We need more talent. Dunno if the leadership is there to bring it all together. Doesn't look that way right now.

To be frank, I don't care who we play next week. Say what? Oh, it's the Bears? They've had a good defense in the past, right? They have that QB who's pretty good but has a history with the Skins that is favorable to us? They upgraded their receiving corps, their line at least keeps said QB more vertical than horizontal compared to years past....so we should expect a better offense, no? Their RB is among the better ones in the league? hmmmm. well, guess we'll know by the time this ramble hits BGO whether the return of our two defensive drug miscreants actually improve that perennial bend but break unit to NFL average status. hope springs eternal!

I've been following these cats since 1962. As a kid, listened on the radio as Sonny battled the starlets from Dallas in high scoring shoot-outs. Then, Vince/George arrived, righted the ship, set the stage for Joe's magnificent run. Talk about transformation! From 1979 through to 1992 the Washington Redskins were, each and every season, about opportunity, excellence and the will to win. All fans were squarely focused on the now, but we knew the future had promise. Real promise. We could emotionally invest and expect a return on that investment. We had empirical proof. Three times over!

Now, we have this uncertain future. The data lead to conclusions best not pondered for any length of time. So, we can focus on the increment. The next phase. Signs of improvement. Does that mean giving up on the playoffs? Not yet. But, cmon now, let's get real. Perhaps, the better play is to see this as transition, look for the signals, invest faith in recognized performance.

What would be nice to see against the Bears? Well, a rockin Fedex for one thing. The beer and dogs will taste a whole lot better if the turn-overs go away, the offensive scheme becomes more settled and is properly executed, tackling doesn't resemble a pinball gauntlet of ricochets, the secondary manages to intelligently coordinate how it controls space in the passing game with correct recognition and proper hand-offs, the special teams actually do something worth remembering in a positive way.

It's time to start reducing some of the uncertainties. We may not make it to the playoffs. Heck, we may not even have a winning season. But we are in transition. We do have our franchise QB. We have a super bowl winning head coach. The roster has been upgraded. We live in a weak division. We have some feature players (Kerrigan, Trent, Robert, Alfred) any team would covet. We have some unknowns with strong upsides (Reid, Amerson). We have a smattering of capable, if not spectacular, vets.

I'm looking to see an offensive scheme start to crystalize. I'm looking for who can play within the team framework and thrive in that environment. I'm looking for anything in the secondary. And, most of all, I'm looking for Robert to resume his growth as an NFL QB. It may be painful, but in the long-run he is going to have to master pocket passing.

Oh yea. We beat the Bears - it is a home game afterall. We can't go 0-3 at home. That is unacceptable.

Thanks for the read.I'll pretty much predict a win for the Skins. If the Skins lose this week it's gonna suck waiting for next season to happen. I'm all in for next season if we can keep Robert healthy... I'm just hoping The Skins can find some traction and maintain some kind of hope. The remaining schedule is a nightmare. It's going to be hard as hell to maintain any sort of enjoyment being completely out of the race before mid season.HTTR